Tugboat To Be Lifted From Hudson River After Deadly Crash
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Officials say a tugboat that collided with a construction barge north of New York City earlier this month, leaving three crew members dead, will be raised from the riverbed this week.
The Coast Guard said Monday that a crane will raise the mangled tugboat, named Specialist, from the Hudson River on Thursday morning. The tugboat is sitting about 40 feet below the surface near the bridge.
The bodies of Paul Amon, 63, of Bayville, and Timothy Conklin, 29, of Westbury. were recovered in the days following the crash. Authorities called off the search for Harry Hernandez, 56, last week after divers couldn't get to his body.
Divers from the state police and NYPD have only been able to go down to the sunken 84-foot vessel during slack tides. The Coast Guard said divers' visibility is about 6 inches and currents are strong.
The tugboat is also apparently leaking an estimated 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel, CBS2 reported in an earlier story.
Investigators are trying to figure out what led to the crash.
The crash was the second deadly accident with a construction barge under the Tappan Zee. In July 2013, a boat operator who later confessed to drinking crashed into a dimly lit barge, killing a bride-to-be and her fiance's best man.
(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
